Heat-assisted magnetic-recording (“HAMR”) media absorbs incoming light energy during write operations. The light energy may be absorbed by one or more layers, for example including the topmost overcoat layer and/or the recording layer. Absorption of the light energy creates a temporal Gaussian thermal spot on the media. The magnitude of an applied optical power and a cross-track width of the spot used during the write operations are a function of the material composition of the media layers. For example, overcoat materials that absorb a significant amount of the light energy leave a smaller magnitude of energy for write operations.